now the waiting begins.  Will he call back?  Will he turn up?  Will the repair require an Unattainable Part or cost £99999?

For future reference, the plumber I have phoned is DT Hunt, who examination of the faded business cards on the pinboard suggests we have phoned before.  Sadly, I cannot remember him or whether he did a decent job, but I'm gambling that Past Us would not have kept the phone number if he'd been a complete whittle.   I seem to have a plumbing tag in which I have recorded various leaks, but not actually useful information such as who did the fixing...

Update : alas, Mr Hunt was abroken reed and did not return the call. I called Mr Utton instead, who turned out to be someone we'd called before, and very efficient he seemed, though he needs to call to arrange to return, and has yet to do so.